Publication: May 10th, 2016
by: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Genres: Humor, Picture Book, Parody
Format: Hardback
Source: Publisher
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
From his wildly popular Tumblr page, Dan Wilbur offers his delightfully cruel summary of the books you were forced to read in high school—with all that resentment and angst loaded into a punchy re-title. Incisive, vindictive, and brutally funny, each page features a recognizable cover with the title renamed: To Kill a Mockingbird becomes My Dad Is Cooler than Your Dad; A Walk to Remember is reborn as Teen Sex Is Ok if One of Them Has Cancer. Perfect for parties, gift for fanatic book lovers, and casual bathroom reading.
“Classics” (the books you’ve lied about reading). Actual Classics (Greek and Latin books people don’t even pretend to have read). Contemporary fiction (those books people talk about at parties that you’ve “definitely heard of” but never bothered to pick up). Children’s (books that say the most with the fewest number of words, i.e. “The Best Books”). Reference (Those books that were around before Google).
From children’s literature, The Very Hungry Caterpillar gets the retitle Eat Until You Feel Pretty. An American classic, The Great Gatsby is switched to Drink Responsibly. And from contemporary fiction, Gone Girl is retitled A Tale of Two Shitty People. There’s something here for every reader.
My Thoughts
*I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.*
Quick and to the point: this is a funny little book. It’s little like a children’s picture book, and only takes a hot second to check out the retitles of some of the best books to ever be written. I laughed aloud as my favorite book- To Kill A Mockingbird- gets retitled My Dad is Cooler Than Your Dad. There are many that will make you LOL, and maybe drinking or eating isn’t the best idea while reading this book.
Each genre has it’s own meaning; such as “Classics”: The Books You’ve Lied About Reading, “Young Adult”: Books Written for Children that Adults Still Read, and “Contemporary Fiction”: Those Books People Talk About at Parties that “You’ve Definitely Heard of” but Never Bothered to Pick Up. This book is for all ages to enjoy. Children’s books have funny retitles as well. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle gets retitled Eat Until You Feel Pretty.
Most of these are quite funny, while some I just scratched my head and moved on. And I think that’s because I have never read that book, so I didn’t get the joke. I think my favorite one would have to be one categorized under: “Young Adult”- A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks gets retitled Teen Sex Is OK If One Of Them Has Cancer.
And then there’s one that may start a debate. I’d rather not put it in this review, but I’m a lover of all things TRUTH when it comes to American History.
Overall, I enjoyed this little gem of a book. If you need a laugh and want to take a jab or two at some of your favorite books (or non-favorite), then you may want to skim through these 108 pages. Recommended!
Haha! Wow. The Nicolas Sparks one made me laugh. Hmmm .. now I’m extremely curious about the one you didn’t want to add.
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I will have to check out the tumblr. I think I detested most of the books I read in high school. They were all really depressing…
Jen @ YA Romantics
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Now this sounds like a unique book I have never heard of before! It sounds like a good laugh and I LOVE the retitlement of the Very Hungry Caterpillar. It has me thinking that the others have to be very hilarious as well. I’m gonna have to look into this.
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I’ve never heard of this but it sounds like it would definitely be fun to look through!
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I don’t read a lot of books like that but now I’m curious too! thanks
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“Eat until you feel pretty”… I’ve been doing that to no avail 😐 #liarliarpantsonfire
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LOL! How about this one: What to Expect When You’re Expecting by Michael Molina, retitled: There Will Be Blood. I almost stopped breathing, I was laughing so hard.
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Very interesting — I haven’t heard of this author or this book but I am definitely intrigued. Great review!
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I think he did this on Tumblr, and it blew up, so they turned it into a book.
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Hmm, sure why not 🙂
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🙂
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Awww! This seems like such a cute book! The book covers funnily enough remind of when I was a little girl and I would sit in the middle of the library with my pile of books and just read ALL THE DAY LONG. I always miss those days! I’m glad this was one of those books that gave you laughs and fuzzy feelings! ❤
xoxo!
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It’s a really fun book to read Keionda!
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LOL! Those examples are hilarious, especially for A Walk to Remember…I remember reading that book a long time ago and getting a similar thought. This looks like a fun little book 🙂
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There are some great ones. Even one for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I am glad that my mouth was empty because I would have choked while laughing.
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This sounds hilarious and that title! Poor Caterpillar. I like the original.
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LOL! There are some great ones in here.
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This does sound like a funny book although the Very Hungry Caterpillar renames makes me somewhat sad!
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Aww, it’s just for fun. There is one that I think is spot on, but I don’t find it funny.
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This does look interesting! Fabulous review Lekeisha!
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Thanks! I laughed at most of them.
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What an eye-catching title! I would so pick up the book based on that, though it is a little creepy. It sounds like it was a funny book for you and the fact that it takes a jab at some fave childhood books cracks me up.
Wonderful review!
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Thanks!
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This one sounds like a lot of fun. I love book humor! I am glad that you enjoyed it.
Carole @ Carole’s Random Life
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Thanks!
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This sounds quite funny, Lekeisha! Thanks for sharing 🙂 I hope you’re having a great week!
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Thanks! I am praying for a great week.
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What a hilarious idea! But also somewhat helpful and interesting to see each book encapsulated into a sentence.
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It helps that the author is so immersed in “comedy”.
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